Archive for the ‘Art Forms’ Category

Comedy Clubs where stand up comedians perform in front of an audience are commonplace in the western world. In fact, this culture has become so popular in certain places like London that there is cut throat competition between different comedy clubs in London (get more information on comedy store london) and organizers are constantly innovating and enhancing their services to attract customers.

Apart from comic acts, stand up performances, magic shows and musical performances, these comedy clubs also have restaurants and bars to entice customers to come in groups and enjoy an entire evening of fun and laughter.

Following are 2 videos showing the kind of stand up acts that are performed in comedy clubs:

Gena Yashere at The Comedy Store Comedy Club in London

Frank Deuring at Lion’s Den Comedy Club in London

Although, this is a popular concept for western audiences, countries like India are just starting to discover this option for recreation and business. In India, it is easy to find a therapeutic morning laughter club, where all the oldies gather in the wee hours of the morning to boisterously laugh out their stress and tensions, but very difficult to imagine a place where stand up comedians perform live every evening.

Recently, Indian television has seen a growing trend of successful laughter competitions and comedy shows where comic artists from across the country perform different kinds of acts and compete with each other. This is somewhat creating awareness about stand up performances and about how difficult, challenging and entertaining live acts are.

Looking at this growing awareness about live comedy in this part of the world and also in order to explore new markets outside the highly competitive UK market, The Comedy Store, a renowned UK based comedy club, is opening India’s first comedy club in Mumbai. The Comedy Store already has 2 venues in London and Manchester and would be opening its first international branch in Mumbai at the Palladium Luxury Shopping Mall at High Street Phoenix in Lower Parel on January 14th, 2010.

The owners have big plans for their first international venture and plan to make the Mumbai outlet as good as their London and Manchester venues, if not better. The club has a budget of 2.5 million pounds or 19 crore rupees and is a joint venture between the UK based The Comedy Store and the Gurgaon based The Spa Group. The club will have a restaurant, a bar and a huge auditorium which will acommodate 325 people. There will also be a parking lot for upto 300 cars.

By opening India’s first comedy club, The Comedy Store hopes to create a market for stand up comedy in India, just like it did in London over 30 years ago. When it started, The Comedy Store was the first of its kind in London and now there are over 300 clubs where one can watch stand up comedy and enjoy a fun-filled evening.

Legendary music super star, king of pop, Michael Jackson may have passed away a few months back but his legacy is here to stay. Michael Jackson’s concert movie “This Is It” was released worldwide today, simultaneously in 15 countries, and was received all over by scores of die-hard MJ fans. The movie premiere in LA saw celebrities like Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Paula Abdul and Peter Andre and the same enthusiasm was seen all over the world.

An icon for millions around the world, Michael died days before he was supposed to make a comeback on the stage with his “This Is It” series of concerts starting at the O2 Arena in London.

After the shocking demise of the musical genius, while fans were devastated, Columbia Pictures decided to start work on a concert movie of Michael Jackson using footage of hours spent by the King Of Pop preparing for the series of concerts before his death.

“This Is It” shows Michael rehearsing many of his songs which he was supposed to perform in his comeback concerts. The movie also promises to show fans the private and never-seen-before side of Michael Jackson and captures the true genius of this multi-talented, globally appealing music idol while he was at work preparing to put up yet another spectacular show, a show which was never meant to happen.

Kenny Ortega, who was MJ’s creative partner and director of his stage shows, is the director of the movie and it has been produced by Randy Phillips, Paul Gongaware and Kenny himself.

Michael also left many unreleased tracks which he was working on. This music is also being released as the “This Is It” Soundtrack – The Music That Inspired The Movie.

Tickets for the movie are on sale only for a short two-week period and the maddening rush of fans, in a way, to pay tribute to their idol is expected to make “This Is It” into a blockbuster…

Dance, as an art form, is steadily becoming very popular among common Indians.

India is a land of diverse beliefs, cultures and arts. Dance has been an important art form for Indians for centuries. Classical dance forms like Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam have all originated in this country and are learned and passed on from one generation to another in many regions. Similarly, other comparitively casual styles of dancing like Bhangra, Gidda and Filmy or Bollywood have always been a part of the Indian lifestyle. Whether its Indian movies, festivals or any kind of celebration, none can be complete without a bit of Latkas and Jhatkas – Freestyle and Funfilled Dancing 🙂

Having said all this, its somewhat strange that even though dance is something that most Indians indulge in or watch on a regular basis, very few seem to be interested in learning dance properly and as an art form. But the scenario is changing now…

Dance has been catching up among common Indian households slowly and steadily. With different types of dance forms such as Hip-Hop, Breaking, Popping and Locking, Salsa etc. gaining popularity and new avenues for learning these art forms opening up, the general population is starting to realize and consider Dance not just as an art form, but a means to maintain fitness and also a way to build self-confidence.

Recently, a television show called Dance India Dance has revealed the amount of talent and passion that thousands of young Indians have for all kinds of dance forms. The show brings together talented dancers from all across the country and promises to find India’s first Dancing Star. Its great to watch and is already a super hit.

Cities like Mumbai and Kolkata have been at the forefront of promoting Dance and its learning in the country. Delhi, somehow has not witnessed the same level of enthusiasm but things are looking up for the capital as more and more initiatives to teach Dance are being taken.

As an art lover myself, I hope there is more awareness in the country for not only our own Dances but also other types of Dance forms around the world. Also, there need to be more schools and institutions that focus on teaching Dance professionally.